The Chevènement family is of Swiss origin, with their original name, Schwennemann, having been gallicized to Chevènement. He was born in Belfort near the Swiss border, speaks German, and studied in Vienna.[2]

Chevènement's idiosyncratic left-wing nationalism has led to comparison with the late British politician Peter Shore,[3] he describes this Eurosceptic and Gaullist position as "republican".[2] He was Mayor of Belfort from 1983 to 2008 and was a Deputy in the National Assembly from 1973 to 2002.

He joined the French Section of the Workers' International (SFIO) and founded the Center of Socialist Studies, Research and Education (Centre d'études, de recherche et d'éducation socialistes or CERES). The organization constituted the left-wing of the party, and promoted the alliance with the Communist Party.

In 1969 the SFIO was superseded by the Socialist Party (Parti socialiste or PS). Two years later, CERES supported the takeover of the party by François Mitterrand. It took a major part in drawing up the socialist plan for the winning 1981 elections.

Chevènement was Minister of Research and Industry from 1981 to 1983, when he resigned, for the first of three times over his career, because he did not agree with the change in economic policy made by President Mitterrand in order to stay in the European Monetary System.[4] He has said that "a minister has to keep his mouth shut; if he wants to open it, he resigns".[5] However, he returned to the cabinet as Minister of National Education from 1984 to 1986.[6]

Appointed Minister of Defence in 1988, he served until 1991, when he resigned due to his opposition to the Gulf War.[4] After this he opposed the Maastricht Treaty, an issue on which Mitterrand and the PS led the "yes" campaign.[7] In 1993 he left the PS and founded a new political party: the Citizens' Movement (Mouvement des citoyens or MDC).

Chevènement and the MDC participated to the formation of the Plural Left coalition. When it won the 1997 legislative election he became Minister of the Interior, but he resigned for the third time in 2000 because of his opposition to giving increased autonomy to Corsica.[4]

On 2 September 1998, Chevènement underwent surgery to his gall bladder. He then had a severe allergic reaction to the anesthetic, causing him to lapse into a coma for 8 days.[8][9] He began to recover, leaving the hospital on 22 October, but he could not work in his ministry for another four months.[10] As a result of this episode he gained the nickname "the miracle of the republic".[4]

Finally, the Republican Pole split and Chevènement created the Citizen and Republican Movement (Mouvement républicain et citoyen or MRC), which described itself as a left-wing party. He reconciled with the PS when, after raising the possibility of a new presidential candidacy, he renounced this to support Ségolène Royal's candidacy in the 2007 presidential election.[13] In spite of the PS support, he failed to retake his parliamentary seat at the 2007 legislative election. He announced that he would not stand as a candidate for another term as Mayor of Belfort.

Jean-Pierre Chevènement at the Salon du livre in Paris, 23 March 2014.

In 2004 he established the Foundation "Res Publica", which aims to promote the 'republican model' (le modèle républicain) and to define a long-term political vision. Chevènement states, however, that Res Publica is not a political party.

Jean-Pierre Chevènement is a souverainist and patriotic left-wing politician, a kind of left-wing gaullist. In consequences, he is opposed to European federalism because of a possible disappearance of nations and the creation of a non-democratic construction lead by non-elected technocrats. He calls for a transformation of the single currency (Euro) into a common currency, allowing countries to adapt and control their economies, but also allowing EU to have a single voice in the world. Indeed, he has criticized the bad influence of a strong currency on other countries of Europe such as Greece, Italy, Spain and Portugal.